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OET (OET-LV) and he_will_be_coming_out to_deceive the nations which in the four corners of_the earth, the Gōg/(Gōg) and Magōg/(Māgōg), to_gather_together them to the war, of_whom the number of_them is like the sand of_the sea.
OET (OET-RV) and he’ll go out to deceive the nations right around the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them together to battle. They’ll be too many to count like the sand on the beach.
In this section, John saw that Satan was set free and left the Abyss. Then Satan deceived people all over the world and led them in a war against God. But God sent fire and the fire killed all the people in Satan’s army. Then God took Satan and threw him into the lake of fire.
Other examples of headings for this section are:
Satan rebelled a last time and God punished him
The Defeat of Satan (GNT)
Satan’s last rebellion, defeat, and punishment
and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—
and go to the four corners of the earth deceiving the nations,
He/Satan will leave there and go to the north, the east, the south, and the west. He will deceive the nations in all those places.
the four corners of the earth: This idiom refers to four places that are as far away from each other as possible. Here the idiom implies the whole world. Satan will deceive all nations.
Some languages do not have an idiom that refers to four places which together mean the whole world. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
Refer to the north, south, east, and west. For example:
in the north, the east, the south, and the west of the earth
Translate the meaning without the idiom. For example:
all places on the earth, both near and far
Also see how you translated this phrase in 7:1. But note that the meaning is a little different here. Here it refers to anywhere on earth, but in 7:1 it refers to four places that are very far away from each other.
Gog and Magog—to assemble them for battle.
symbolized as Gog and Magog, and bringing them together for battle/war.
The nations are symbolically called Gog and Magog. He will gather them into a huge army,
Gog and Magog: The Greek grammar indicates that the phrase Gog and Magog explains “the nations in the four corners of the earth.” The names appear in Ezekiel 38–39 as the names of nations who will gather to fight against Israel. So John probably uses the names here to refer to enemies of God from all nations.
In some languages a literal translation would not clearly have this meaning. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
Explain the meaning of the names in a footnote. An example footnote is:
These names appear in Ezekiel 38–39. John used them here to refer to enemies of God from all nations.
Indicate in your translation that they are symbolic names. For example:
the evil/hostile nations symbolically named Gog and Magog
assemble them for battle: In some languages there is a special word for assembling troops to prepare for war. For example:
mobilise them for war (NJB)
muster them for war (REB)
Their number is like the sand of the seashore.
The people in that army are as many/numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore.
countless as the sand of the seashore.
Their number is like the sand of the seashore: This clause is a metaphor. It indicates that the number of those who gathered for battle was very great. Other ways to translate this clause are:
as many as the grains of sand on the seashore (GNT)
They will be as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore (GW)
In some languages a literal translation of this metaphor would not have the correct meaning. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
Explain the metaphor in your translation. For example:
They are so many that counting them would be like trying to count each grain of sand on the seashore
Translate the literal meaning of the metaphor and explain its meaning in a footnote. For example:
This saying exaggerates the count to indicate “very many.”
Use a common word or phrase in your language that exaggerates the meaning of “very many” or “uncountable.” You may then want to indicate the literal words in a footnote. An example footnote is:
Literally: “their number is like the sand of the sea.”
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
τὰ ἐν ταῖς τέσσαρσι γωνίαις τῆς γῆς
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί ἐξελεύσεται πλανῆσαι τά ἔθνη τά ἐν ταῖς τέσσαρσιν γωνίαις τῆς γῆς τόν Γώγ καί Μαγώγ συναγαγεῖν αὐτούς εἰς τόν πόλεμον ὧν ὁ ἀριθμός αὐτῶν ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς θαλάσσης)
John is speaking as if the earth literally had four corners. He means the most distant places on the earth. If it would be clearer in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [at the most distant places on the earth]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / merism
τὰ ἐν ταῖς τέσσαρσι γωνίαις τῆς γῆς
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί ἐξελεύσεται πλανῆσαι τά ἔθνη τά ἐν ταῖς τέσσαρσιν γωνίαις τῆς γῆς τόν Γώγ καί Μαγώγ συναγαγεῖν αὐτούς εἰς τόν πόλεμον ὧν ὁ ἀριθμός αὐτῶν ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς θαλάσσης)
John is using the most distant places on the earth to mean those places and everything between them and his location. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent expression or plain language. Alternate translation: [everywhere in the world]
Note 3 topic: translate-names
τὸν Γὼγ καὶ Μαγώγ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί ἐξελεύσεται πλανῆσαι τά ἔθνη τά ἐν ταῖς τέσσαρσιν γωνίαις τῆς γῆς τόν Γώγ καί Μαγώγ συναγαγεῖν αὐτούς εἰς τόν πόλεμον ὧν ὁ ἀριθμός αὐτῶν ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς θαλάσσης)
The word Gog is the name of a ruler whom the prophet Ezekiel addresses in [Ezekiel 38:1–39:20](../ezk/38/01.md). The word Magog is the name of the land that he ruled.
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
τὸν Γὼγ καὶ Μαγώγ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί ἐξελεύσεται πλανῆσαι τά ἔθνη τά ἐν ταῖς τέσσαρσιν γωνίαις τῆς γῆς τόν Γώγ καί Μαγώγ συναγαγεῖν αὐτούς εἰς τόν πόλεμον ὧν ὁ ἀριθμός αὐτῶν ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς θαλάσσης)
John is using the ruler named Gog and his land of Magog symbolically to represent the nations whom the devil will deceive. He means that these nations will form a great army together and attack the people of God, just as Ezekiel described Gog gathering a great coalition of peoples against Israel. If it would be clearer in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [forming a great coalition of peoples]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicitinfo
ὧν ὁ ἀριθμὸς αὐτῶν
˱of˲_whom the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί ἐξελεύσεται πλανῆσαι τά ἔθνη τά ἐν ταῖς τέσσαρσιν γωνίαις τῆς γῆς τόν Γώγ καί Μαγώγ συναγαγεῖν αὐτούς εἰς τόν πόλεμον ὧν ὁ ἀριθμός αὐτῶν ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς θαλάσσης)
It might seem that the expression of whom their number contains extra information that would be unnatural to express in your language. If so, you could shorten it. Alternate translation: [whose number]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / simile
ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς θαλάσσης.
like the sand ˱of˲_the sea
The point of this comparison is that the number of soldiers in this army will be very large, just as the number of grains of sand on the shore of the sea is very large. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make this point explicitly. Alternate translation: [will be very large, like the number of grains of sand on the seashore]
20:8 Jewish traditions vary regarding the locations of Gog and Magog. They are symbolically to the north (see Jer 1:14-15), the direction from which the enemies traditionally approached Megiddo and Jerusalem. The names represent nations and rulers from every corner of the earth that oppose God’s people (see Ezek 38–39).
• He will gather them together for battle: Repeating the earlier scenes in which God’s enemies assemble for battle (Rev 16:16; 19:19), Satan here makes a last-ditch attempt to confront God and his forces.
OET (OET-LV) and he_will_be_coming_out to_deceive the nations which in the four corners of_the earth, the Gōg/(Gōg) and Magōg/(Māgōg), to_gather_together them to the war, of_whom the number of_them is like the sand of_the sea.
OET (OET-RV) and he’ll go out to deceive the nations right around the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them together to battle. They’ll be too many to count like the sand on the beach.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.